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Croatia participated in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. This was their fifth appearance. Croatia managed to reach the final where they lost to France and finished second in the tournament.

Qualifying

Croatia was in Group I of UEFA's World Cup qualifications. They played alongside Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland and Kosovo. Croatia finished as runner-up in the group and entered the second-round play-offs where the team beat Greece and qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Croatia national team was led by manager Ante Čačić until 7 October 2017 when he was, due to a series of bad results, replaced by Zlatko Dalić.

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iceland	10	7	1	2	16	7	+9	22	Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup		—	1–0	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–0
2	Croatia	10	6	2	2	15	4	+11	20	Advance to second round		2–0	—	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–0
3	Ukraine	10	5	2	3	13	9	+4	17			1–1	0–2	—	2–0	1–0	3–0
4	Turkey	10	4	3	3	14	13	+1	15			0–3	1–0	2–2	—	2–0	2–0
5	Finland	10	2	3	5	9	13	−4	9			1–0	0–1	1–2	2–2	—	1–1
6	Kosovo	10	0	1	9	3	24	−21	1			1–2	0–6	0–2	1–4	0–1	—

The results of the group stage

5 September 2016 (2016-09-05)	Croatia	1–1	Turkey	Zagreb, Croatia
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	Rakitić 44' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Çalhanoğlu 45+3'	Stadium: Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb Attendance: 0 Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

6 October 2016 (2016-10-06)	Kosovo	0–6	Croatia	Shkodër, Albania
20:45 (UTC+2)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Mandžukić 6', 24', 35' Mitrović 68' Perišić 83' Kalinić 90+2'	Stadium: Loro Boriçi Stadium Attendance: 14,612 Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (Spain)

9 October 2016 (2016-10-09)	Finland	0–1	Croatia	Tampere, Finland
19:00 (UTC+3)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Mandžukić 18'	Stadium: Tampere Stadium Attendance: 15,567 Referee: Ruddy Buquet (France)

12 November 2016 (2016-11-12)	Croatia	2–0	Iceland	Zagreb, Croatia
18:00 (UTC+1)	Brozović 15', 90+1'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)		Stadium: Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb Attendance: 0 Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)

24 March 2017 (2017-03-24)	Croatia	1–0	Ukraine	Zagreb, Croatia
20:45 (UTC+1)	Kalinić 38'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)		Stadium: Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb Attendance: 27,351 Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

11 June 2017 (2017-06-11)	Iceland	1–0	Croatia	Reykjavík, Iceland
20:45 (18:45 UTC±0)	Magnússon 90'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)		Stadium: Laugardalsvöllur Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain)

3 September 2017 (2017-09-03)	Croatia	1–0	Kosovo	Zagreb, Croatia
14:30 (14:30 UTC+2)	Vida 74'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)		Stadium: Stadion Maksimir Attendance: 6,838 Referee: Stefan Johannesson (Sweden)

5 September 2017 (2017-09-05)	Turkey	1–0	Croatia	Eskişehir, Turkey
20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)	Tosun 75'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)		Stadium: New Eskişehir Stadium Attendance: 28,600 Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

6 October 2017 (2017-10-06)	Croatia	1–1	Finland	Rijeka, Croatia
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	Mandžukić 57'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Soiri 90'	Stadium: Stadion Rujevica Attendance: 7,578 Referee: Daniel Stefanski (Poland)

9 October 2017 (2017-10-09)	Ukraine	0–2	Croatia	Kyiv, Ukraine
20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Kramarić 62' 70'	Stadium: Olympic Stadium Attendance: 60,200 Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

The results of the second-round play-off

9 November 2017 (2017-11-09)	Croatia	4–1	Greece	Zagreb, Croatia
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	Modrić 13' (pen.) N. Kalinić 19' Perišić 33' Kramarić 49'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Papastathopoulos 30'	Stadium: Stadion Maksimir Attendance: 30,013 Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)

12 November 2017 (2017-11-12)	Greece	0–0 (1–4 agg.)	Croatia	Piraeus, Greece
20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)		Stadium: Karaiskakis Stadium Attendance: 18,667 Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

Players

Altogether 26 players appeared in the qualifying matches. Domagoj Vida is the only player that appeared in all 12 matches playing the full 90 minutes of all games. Mario Mandžukić was the top scorer with 5 achieved goals. Filip Bradarić, Duje Ćaleta-Car and Dominik Livaković did not appear in any of the qualifying matches but made the final World Cup squad.

Complete list of players in the qualifying matches

Source: Croatian Football Federation

World Cup preparation

23 March 2018 Friendly match	Peru	2–0	Croatia	Miami, United States
01:00 (UTC+1)	Carrillo 12' Flores 48' Yoshimar Yotun  57'  75'	Report		Stadium: Hard Rock Stadium Attendance: 46,893 Referee: Ismail Elfath (United States)

27 March 2018 Friendly match	Mexico	0–1	Croatia	Dallas, United States
04:00 (UTC+1)		Report	Rakitić 62' (pen.)	Stadium: AT&T Stadium Attendance: 79,128 Referee: Mario Alberto Escobar (Guatemala)

3 June 2018 Friendly match	Croatia	0–2	Brazil	Liverpool, England
16:00 (UTC+1)		Report	Neymar 69' Firmino 90+4'	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 36,584 Referee: Michael Oliver (England)

8 June 2018 Friendly match	Croatia	2–1	Senegal	Osijek, Croatia
18:00 (UTC+2)	Perišić 63' Kramarić 78'	Report	Sarr 48'	Stadium: Stadion Gradski vrt Attendance: 15,998 Referee: Ádám Farkas (Hungary)

Draw

Croatia was drawn into Group D. Croatia's opponents in the first stage were Nigeria, Argentina and Iceland.

Squad

Coach: Zlatko Dalić

A 32-man preliminary squad was announced on 14 May 2018. The squad was reduced to 24 players on 21 May. The final squad was announced on 4 June.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Dominik Livaković	(1995-01-09)9 January 1995 (aged 23)	1	0	Dinamo Zagreb
2	2DF	Šime Vrsaljko	(1992-01-10)10 January 1992 (aged 26)	35	0	Atlético Madrid
3	2DF	Ivan Strinić	(1987-07-17)17 July 1987 (aged 30)	43	0	Sampdoria
4	4FW	Ivan Perišić	(1989-02-02)2 February 1989 (aged 29)	66	18	Inter Milan
5	2DF	Vedran Ćorluka	(1986-02-05)5 February 1986 (aged 32)	99	4	Lokomotiv Moscow
6	2DF	Dejan Lovren	(1989-07-05)5 July 1989 (aged 28)	39	2	Liverpool
7	3MF	Ivan Rakitić	(1988-03-10)10 March 1988 (aged 30)	92	14	Barcelona
8	3MF	Mateo Kovačić	(1994-05-06)6 May 1994 (aged 24)	41	1	Real Madrid
9	4FW	Andrej Kramarić	(1991-06-19)19 June 1991 (aged 26)	31	9	1899 Hoffenheim
10	3MF	Luka Modrić (captain)	(1985-09-09)9 September 1985 (aged 32)	106	12	Real Madrid
11	3MF	Marcelo Brozović	(1992-11-16)16 November 1992 (aged 25)	35	6	Inter Milan
12	1GK	Lovre Kalinić	(1990-04-03)3 April 1990 (aged 28)	11	0	Gent
13	2DF	Tin Jedvaj	(1995-11-28)28 November 1995 (aged 22)	12	0	Bayer Leverkusen
14	3MF	Filip Bradarić	(1992-01-11)11 January 1992 (aged 26)	4	0	Rijeka
15	2DF	Duje Ćaleta-Car	(1996-09-17)17 September 1996 (aged 21)	1	0	Red Bull Salzburg
16	4FW	Nikola Kalinić	(1988-01-05)5 January 1988 (aged 30)	42	15	Milan
17	4FW	Mario Mandžukić	(1986-05-21)21 May 1986 (aged 32)	83	30	Juventus
18	4FW	Ante Rebić	(1993-09-21)21 September 1993 (aged 24)	16	1	Eintracht Frankfurt
19	3MF	Milan Badelj	(1989-02-25)25 February 1989 (aged 29)	38	1	Fiorentina
20	4FW	Marko Pjaca	(1995-05-06)6 May 1995 (aged 23)	16	1	Schalke 04
21	2DF	Domagoj Vida	(1989-04-29)29 April 1989 (aged 29)	59	2	Beşiktaş
22	2DF	Josip Pivarić	(1989-01-30)30 January 1989 (aged 29)	19	0	Dynamo Kyiv
23	1GK	Danijel Subašić	(1984-10-27)27 October 1984 (aged 33)	38	0	Monaco

Matches

Group stage

Croatia	2–0	Nigeria
Etebo 32' (o.g.) Modrić 71' (pen.)	Report

Argentina	0–3	Croatia
	Report	Rebić 53' Modrić 80' Rakitić 90+1'

Iceland	1–2	Croatia
Sigurðsson 76' (pen.)	Report	Badelj 53' Perišić 90'

Round of 16

Croatia	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Denmark
Mandžukić 4'	Report	M. Jørgensen 1'
Penalties
Badelj Kramarić Modrić Pivarić Rakitić	3–2	Eriksen Kjær Krohn-Dehli Schöne N. Jørgensen

Quarter-finals

Russia	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Croatia
Cheryshev 31' Fernandes 115'	Report	Kramarić 39' Vida 101'
Penalties
Smolov Dzagoev Fernandes Ignashevich Kuzyayev	3–4	Brozović Kovačić Modrić Vida Rakitić

Semi-finals

Croatia	2–1 (a.e.t.)	England
Perišić 68' Mandžukić 109'	Report	Trippier 5'

Final

France	4–2	Croatia
Mandžukić 18' (o.g.) Griezmann 38' (pen.) Pogba 59' Mbappé 65'	Report	Perišić 28' Mandžukić 69'

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Croatia	3	3	0	0	7	1	+6	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Argentina	3	1	1	1	3	5	−2	4
3	Nigeria	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1	3
4	Iceland	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	1

References

1. "Čačić smijenjen, Zlatko Dalić novi je izbornik!" (in Croatian). vecernji.hr. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
2. The game was originally scheduled for 2 September, but due to heavy rains in Zagreb was postponed for the next day.
3. Ćorluka missed most of the qualifying matches due to injury.
4. Pjaca missed most of the qualifying matches due to injury.
5. hns-cff.hr (14 May 2018). "Izbornik hrvatske reprezentacije Zlatko Dalić objavio je danas širi popis od 32 igrača koji kandidiraju za nastup na FIFA Svjetskom prvenstvu u Rusiji ovoga ljeta". hns-cff.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 14 May 2018.
6. "Head coach Dalić presents 24-man Croatia squad". hns-cff.hr. Croatian Football Federation. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
7. Radičević, Vlado (4 June 2018). "Zlatko Dalić donio najtežu odluku; višak postao igrač koji to sigurno nije očekivao" [Zlatko Dalić made the toughest decision; the surplus became a player who did not expect it]. Tportal.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
8. "Match report – Group D – Croatia v Nigeria" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 16 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
9. "Match report – Group D – Argentina v Croatia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
10. "Match report – Group D – Iceland v Croatia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
11. "Match report – Round of 16 – Croatia v Denmark" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 1 July 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
12. "Match report – Quarter-final – Russia v Croatia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 7 July 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
13. "Match report – Semi-final – Croatia v England" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.

External links

• Media related to Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup at Wikimedia Commons

• Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
• Countries at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
• Modern history of Croatia